The exhibit organized worldview, identity, and politics into
four categories: to change, to know, to locate, and to voice. The work ranged
in artistic expression, culture, time period, and media. However represented, the artwork
explored Native People of the past and present as we have lived, changed, and
adapted to being on this continent through hundreds of generations. An artist
who used stainless steel, instead of silver, to create a beautiful necklace,
captured “change” in a memorable quote, saying, “Whatever I make becomes Native
because I am Native.”
“Change” is also represented in the art, for example, the way swaying
fringe transforms a Tlingit Chilkat blanket into a kinetic sculpture.
In the exhibit, L. Frank Tongva demonstrated “knowing” when
he said, “Art cannot be separated from history/religion or our daily life.”
Kevin Lee Barton said, “Digital software and Cree language are both evolving,
but can work with, not against each other.” It is by “knowing” who we are as a
traditional people and “changing” with the times, that we continue to retain
our identity in a contemporary world.
“Location” influences art, not only in terms of materials
and impact of environment on such things as theme, but also because of who was
interacting with whom. Location
testifies to a long history of using various materials and adapting to the
styles and desires of people from a particular time period. In this exhibit, there is a sea lion
intestine cape with high Russian collar, a Chumash basket modeled after Chinese
porcelain, a modern dance set to traditional music and a traditional dance set
to modern music, and there is a bronze sculpture. Various materials, contact with art from other cultures, as
well as the desires of the popular culture, have influenced Native American
art.
But it is “voice” that rings loud and clear in this exhibit. When you look at one piece, is it beads
or blood that you see? In another
artwork, what was the impact of nuclear testing in New Mexico? There is an
obvious critique of Native issues of abuse and dispossession. The titles
themselves are marks of protest:
• We Will Again
Open This Container of Wisdom That Has Been Left in Our Care (dance video)
• After Two or
Three Hundred Years, You Will Not Notice
• Abundance of
Indigenous Resources Hidden in Land
• Who Shot the
Arrow… Who Killed the Sparrow…?
• When Coyote
Leaves the Reservation (a portrait of the artist as a young coyote)
• Stop Hiding
Behind Geronimo
• Wheel of
Fortune – A Call to Action
Who says all Native American people are stoic, reserved, or
proud? The comedian, James Luna, photographed himself in a mock funeral with
his divorce papers, among other things, for “The Artifact Piece” and
demonstrates the weird ways nonNative people have described Native People. In fact, several pieces make this
commentary – We are more than our “artifacts.” For one thing, we are funny! One
of my favorite pieces has to be the artist who was asked to capture “the
spiritual” in an artistic piece.
He did, it’s called, “The Sacred Power Poles” and is a painting of,
well, you guessed it, power lines. One piece that I found quite disturbing was
a beautiful, elongated hand made from layers of mica (circa 100 BCE – 400
CE). Actually, I loved the piece,
but felt conflicted with the description which was “severed hand taken as a war
trophy.” Why can’t it be “spiritual?” That’s what it looks like. It’s 2000 years old, how do you know it
was related to war? It is ironic
that Native People are defined as “spiritual” as often as “warlike.” It seems that in this piece at least,
they got it wrong, but as a whole, they got the political activism right in
this exhibit.
